


At Death, Do We Part?

by spopuhaul



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Dog! Swift Wind (She-Ra), Entrapta Being Entrapta (She-Ra), F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Human Catra (She-Ra), Human Scorpia (She-Ra), Lesbian Adora (She-Ra), Lesbian Catra (She-Ra), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Adora (She-Ra), POV Catra (She-Ra), POV Third Person, Scorpia (She-Ra) is a Good Friend, Scorpia Has Prosthetics (She-Ra), Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25604101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spopuhaul/pseuds/spopuhaul
Summary: After Bright Moon is hit with a sudden apocalyptic style breakout, Adora and Catra find their way to each other and must work together to keep their group alive. Apart from zombies, the real problem is Catra just won't stop bringing up their first awkward encounter.[ON HIATUS INDEFINITELY, BRAIN SAID HYPERFIXATE ON SOMETHING ELSE]
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Thief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ElectricSkelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricSkelly/gifts).



> "Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked  
> Until we close our eyes for good"
> 
> Ain't No Rest For The Wicked- Cage the Elephant

_This is a mistake,_ Adora thought as she walked through the halls of the supermarket. It had been a rather cool day so far, so she made her way into the store with the intention of buying a drink and getting warmed up. The problem was that the store was out of her favourite refreshment. Instead, she grabbed some low quality off brand soda out of the refrigerated section. The mistake wasn't her choice of drink, however, but what she was about to do. 

Adora just lost her job at the gas station she had been working at for three years. Something about "downsizing" although she knew that was total malarkey, and money was tight enough as it is. She scanned the aisle, making sure no one was around to watch her commit the crime she was about to partake in. She slipped the single serving bottle into her jacket, positioning it so she could keep it in place with her arm. A twinge of guilt made her stomach flip, but she decided to brush it off. It wasn't the first time she stole something small like that, as much as she hated to admit it. 

She began to walk down the aisle, scanning the floor and shelves for any coins. The people in this town always seemed to drop things, much to Adora's delight. She noticed a dollar coin on the floor and bent over to pick it up. She shoved the coin in her pocket and made her way to the checkout lane where she grabbed a 25 cent candy bar she intended to pay for so she wouldn't appear suspicious by leaving empty handed. 

The wait in line only lasted for a few minutes. Adora placed her candy bar on the conveyor belt, watching it move forward. She looked up at her cashier, a girl seemingly the same age as her with tan skin and long, wavy brown hair. She was turned to look at the screen, away from Adora, who sniffed. The cashier turned to Adora, taking the candy bar and looking down as she scanned it. Adora managed to read her plastic nametag. Scrawled on it read "Catra". She huffed. _Must be a nickname._ The actual label was scratched out and replaced with the messy handwriting. 

Catra looked up to make eye contact with Adora. Adora froze. Her own blue eyes met Catra's dual coloured stare. One amber eye and one blue. Adora couldn't help but stare, which made Catra roll her eyes. Adora looked away and back at the candy bar, suddenly remembering that she had a bottle in her jacket. 

"Would you like a bag?" 

Adora looked up at the cashier, who's flat tone made her less worried about getting caught. She shook her head. "No thanks, I'm just going to eat it anyway." She gestured to the candy bar and then to her mouth. _That was so stupid._

Catra shrugged. "Whatever. Your total comes up to 30 cents," she muttered, handing Adora the candy bar.

"Thanks," Adora said, grabbing the bar and handing Catra the coin, who took it. She opened the register and placed the coin in, then grabbed the change and passed it to Adora along with the receipt. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know if they're hiring here would you?" She was hopeful that she could find a job. Experience as a cashier certainly wasn't an issue for her. 

"Not sure, you'd have to talk to my manager," Catra replied. She eyed Adora and pressed her lips together. "You might want to leave before someone notices you're stealing that drink." 

Adora's face flushed in embarrassment. "You're not going to… Get me in trouble?" She grabbed her jacket and closed it with her hands in an attempt to further hide the bottle. 

"Dude, it's one drink. You must be struggling if you're stealing _that_." Catra waved Adora away. "Now go, I have other customers before I get to leave." 

Adora shot her a thankful look before spinning on her heels and walking away. The door opened automatically as she neared it and she took one last look behind her before walking out onto the streets. _Lucky she was chill enough to let me get away with this,_ Adora thought as she took the bottle out from under her jacket and zipped up her coat. It was pretty standard weather for October. The sky was orange, the wind was picking up and the air was a comfortable sweater weather. She opened the bottle with a _fizz_ and put her mouth to the opening, taking a swig. 

"Ugh," she groaned as her face scrunched up. "This isn't even that good," she muttered. Adora turned the bottle to read the label. _Cola Zero._ She huffed. "I took the diet one?" She closed the bottle again and put it in her pocket, deciding to eat the candy bar instead. 

_Sweet chocolate and almonds, get ready to be devoured!_ Adora greedily ripped the wrapper off the bar and took a bite. The chocolate itself was a little soft from being inside her pocket and the crunch of the almonds made for an interesting texture. She moaned happily as the flavour hit her tongue. She took another bite, looking up at the sidewalk. Her eye caught on a rather strange looking person walking slowly and turning into an alley. She furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity at the person's hunched posture and dragging feet. _Well that's weird_. 

A few moments passed and she heard a loud screaming come from the alley. The screaming continued for a moment until it became gurgled and eventually stopped. Adora felt a pit in her stomach. She didn't want any more of that candy bar. Her legs took her to the stoplight with a fuller view of the alleyway, her curiosity getting the better of her. A glance down the alleyway froze Adora in her spot. The limping person she saw earlier was positioned over the body of a person laying on the floor, mauling at it. "What the fuck?" Adora exclaimed loudly. 

The thing that was eating the body of another person looked over at Adora. She now noticed that its face was rotting and its mouth was agape. Blood covered its face and its eyes were glazed over. It stood up slowly and started making its way to Adora. _This has to be some kind of prank, right?_ She started slowly backing away, not knowing if the ghoulish figure could break into a sprint. Her hand reached into her pocket, taking out her phone. She began to dial 911 when an armoured vehicle sped up to the scene and squealed to a stop. 

"Get on the ground!" A loud, powerful voice called as a group of people wearing body armour holding guns jumped out of the back of the vehicle and aimed their guns at the walking carcass. The carcass broke eye contact with Adora and began to make its way to the army men. 

"Stop moving," one of the soldiers ordered. The corpse didn't stop and instead began to speed up. "Open fire!" 

The front row of soldiers began to shoot at the corpse, leaving large wounds and significantly slowing it down but it kept walking until one of the bullets entered its skull. The soldiers formed a circle around the body on the floor and Adora squinted her eyes to try to see better, despite her stomach twisting in knots. They muttered something when from the alleyway and up the street came a mob of the monsters. 

Loud moaning and other guttural noises emanated from their throats and the soldiers all turned around and began shooting at them. Adora hid behind a wall, her best defense against stray bullets. She peered her head around the corner to see what must have been several dozens of these living corpses closing in on the soldiers. The gunshots ran through the air until they died out one by one but only the front rows of what Adora figured must be zombies were wiped out. The remaining bunch bent over the screaming soldiers and began to eat them alive. Adora hid behind the wall again, holding back a gag reflex. She peered down the street, wondering whether she should make a break for it or wait until they cleared out. _If_ they cleared out. 

She looked back over the wall and noticed the zombies dispersing. _Fuck fuck fuck._ Adora measured the distance between herself and the next streetlight in front of her. She took one, two, three steps forward slowly and then ran, looking down at her phone that still had 911 dialled. She pressed the green button to commence the call and brought the phone up to her ear. "Come on, come on, come on," she muttered under her breath as she ran down the street toward her house. 

The phone rang once, then twice before playing the tone which indicated a busy line. Adora bared her teeth in frustration, putting her phone back in her pocket. She turned right on the street and sprinted to the house she shared with her roommates. She fumbled the keys in her hands and stuck the key in the lock, turning it with shaking hands. "Glimmer? Bow?" She closed the door behind her, locking it. A low bark sounded from up the stairs as a large St. Bernard ran down the stairs and threw itself onto Adora. 

"Aw, hi Swifty!" She crouched down and ruffled the dog's fur in between her hands as he licked her cheek. "Do you know where Bow and Glimmer are?" 

Swifty huffed and turned around, waiting for Adora to follow him. She stood up, bracing her weight on her knee and followed Swift Wind down into the basement where a short girl with pink and purple hair, and a taller boy with dark skin and a crop top were sitting. They were looking at the TV on the wall with wide eyes. 

"Adora!" The boy squeaked. "We were so worried!" He ran up to Adora and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "We thought they got you!" 

Adora cocked her head. "What do you mean Bow?" She figured he meant whatever the fuck she just witnessed, but asked to make sure. 

"He means those… ankle biters," Glimmer said with a disgusted look on her face. "The ones who devoured those military-looking people," she added with furrowed eyebrows. 

"We saw you on the news broadcast right before they cut to an emergency broadcast signal," Bow interjected. He pointed at the TV which was repeating the same distorted tones on a red screen with white text. 

" _'The Etherian Government has officially declared a state of emergency across the following regions: Bright Moon, Dryl, Elberon, Plumeria, Salineas, Thaymor, and the Greater Fright Zone Area_ '," Adora read off of the television screen with squinted eyes. She turned toward her two friends. "That's fucking insane!" She shook her head in disbelief, stepping toward the couch and sat on it. "I mean, it's unbelievable!" She placed her head in the palm of her hands, replaying the gruesome scene in her head. Her body started to quiver, and Swift Wind came over, placing his head on her lap. 

Bow and Glimmer each placed an arm around her, leaning on her shoulders. Adora took a deep breath. "What do we do? Do we stay? Do we leave?" 

Bow shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I think we should wait a little bit and see if the situation gets better." He reached behind him and grabbed the tablet laying on the couch. "I've been reading about what to do in emergency situations," he said, looking at the screen. "We need to gather essentials, and as much food as we can fit in a box." 

"Do you think we can drive? Where would we even go?" Glimmer frowned, latching onto Bow's arm. Adora crossed her arms.

"I think we should be fine. The car should have a full tank, I filled it yesterday." He placed his arm on Glimmer's shoulder, bringing her in to comfort her. "And Entrapta and I were prototyping a solar-based power system for the engine." 

"Wait, really? That's amazing," Adora gasped. "I mean, not just right now, but in general." 

Bow shrugged. "Yeah, it was meant to be a surprise. We've gotten it to work well on her tester car, so it should be good to go in case we need it." Bow took a deep breath. "But as for where to go, I have no idea." 

Adora and Glimmer huffed. They sat in silence for a moment. "Maybe we can go somewhere up north," Adora suggested. "I mean, if this is… a virus or something… then it should have a lesser chance of surviving up in the cold, right?" 

Glimmer scoffed. "Yeah, or maybe we're just heading up to freeze our asses off and become one of them!" She crossed her arms, falling into the crook of Bow's shoulder. He grunted at the impact. 

"I think you both have a point," Bow squeaked. "We don't know how this works yet, and we don't even know if we should leave." 

As if on cue, a muffled string of gunshots and screams erupted from outside, along with thuds from bodies falling onto their walls. They all turned their heads to look at the half window at the top of the room which gave viewing access to the street. A woman was laying there motionless, blood covering the glass. The room was dead silent, and after what seemed like the longest minute of Adora's life, the body stirred and began to move. It slowly turned its body to look inside the room, muffled groaning breaking the silence. Swift Wind growled at the window, taking a defensive stance in front of the three friends. 

"Uh Bow? I think that's our answer," Adora said, pointing to the window. The zombie outside punched through the glass, crawling through the slim window and fell onto the floor. They let out a shrill scream. 

"Fuck! What do we do?" Glimmer pushed everyone back a few steps and turned to face the zombie again. She grabbed the closest item which was the TV remote and held it up like a weapon. 

Bow looked behind him and saw a bow and a quiver of arrows mounted on the wall. He lunged backwards and grabbed it off of the wall. "Duck! " He warned with a crack in his voice. He drew an arrow, pulling the string back tightly and released right after Adora and Glimmer ducked, impaling the zombie right through the skull, causing it to drop mere inches away from the two girls. 

"Holy shit," they all muttered in unison, looking at the corpse. Swift Wind creeped forward to sniff the body, but Adora stepped forward and grabbed his collar before he was able to. 

"I guess we have to go, then." Bow pulled the arrow out of the head, causing blood to splatter. He groaned, and put the arrow with the others in the quiver he wore around his chest. He put his shoulder through the bow, resting it on his back. "Grab everything we may need, and we'll go." Adora and Glimmer nodded and headed upstairs to gather things to take, Swift Wind following after Adora. 

The silence in the house lasted for around half an hour, the only noise coming from clattering items, the occasional frustrated grunt, and Swift Wind's panting. The three friends, plus a large dog, all gathered together to debrief what they gathered. 

"I got us as much of the food that won't spoil as I could, and I put as much of the refrigerated food in this cooler that would fit," Bow said, patting the lid of a large blue cooler. "In this bag are a lot of snacks and mainly anything from our cabinets." He held up the bag and placed it down on the cooler. "Oh and a bunch of my clothes, especially the warmer stuff." 

"Okay, I assumed Bow would get food, so I searched around for medicinal things. I found some pain killers, gauze, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol and bandages. They're all in this first aid kit," she explained while gesturing to the red box in her hand. "I also grabbed this bat and some nails we could hammer in to make a weapon like on that one show we saw." Bow and Adora nodded. _That’s a good idea._ "Oh and of course, my jacket and a couple extra clothes." 

Adora looked at her pile of things. "Um, I packed stuff for Swifty, considering I'm not sure how many supplies we'll be able to get for him." She pet the top of his head. "I also brought some books and stuff we could use to pass the time. And assorted batteries because we might need them." She held up a bag full of board games, cards, and books. "Oh, and this sword." She pulled out a sword from behind her back out of nowhere. Bow and Glimmer gasped in awe.

"Woah, where'd you get that?" Glimmer asked enthusiastically. 

Bow reached out to stroke the blade. "Do you even know how to use it?" 

Adora shrugged. "I mean, a little bit, but I doubt I'll have to know a lot of techniques to slice those motherfuckers up," she said with a fake confidence. 

"Well as long as you don't cut _our_ heads off, that's fine I guess," Bow decided. "Besides, it makes for a pretty sweet weapon," he added. 

They picked up all their bags and threw them in the trunk of their red SUV, making sure not to alert any of the zombies that were crawling around outside. Adora and Swift Wind jumped in the backseat, making sure that they were both safely fastened. Bow sat in front of the steering wheel, and Glimmer joined him up front. Bow looked in the rear view mirror at Adora, then looked at Glimmer. "Ready to go?" 

Adora and Glimmer nodded. "Let's do this thing." 


	2. Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra gets picked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Listen up cause I'm about to sing  
> The creatures of the night  
> Can't hold a candle to this  
> We'll be kickin' ass we'll be takin' names  
> When we're bigger than Kiss"
> 
> Bigger Than Kiss - Teenage Bottlerocket

"Well, that was weird." Catra watched as the blonde who she had just allowed to steal a drink left the store, taking a final glance back to her. Catra lowered her eyebrows, trying to decide whether or not that was a good idea. 

"She reminds me of my Mara," a nasally voice called to her. Catra looked over at a short, older woman wearing a pink dress. "Well, sort of. My Mara looks different, but I can sense that they both have good souls," the woman told Catra, who nodded with a confused expression. 

"Sure," Catra muttered as she began to scan the woman's items. _Berries, flour, sugar, and butter. Seems like she's making pie,_ Catra decided with an amused snort. 

"Yes, I am making pie," the lady announced simultaneously as Catra finished her thought. Catra jumped a little. "She promised she'd help me, you know." 

Catra narrowed her eyes as she finished scanning the items. "Okay, your total comes up to 15.85." She watched as the lady reached into her purse and pulled out a 20 dollar bill. She handed it to Catra with a smile on her face, pushing up her giant yellow-tinted glasses. 

"Keep the change dearie," she told Catra who opened her mouth, then closed it, putting in the exact amount of money owed in the register and the extra on the side.

Catra gave her a polite smile and held out a receipt. "Thank you for shopping at Bullseye. Have a nice day," she began to say before getting interrupted by a scream from the entrance of the store. They both turned to look. 

"Lock the doors! There's a thing chasing me!" A woman stumbled to the floor in front of the automatic door, blood covering her shirt. She crawled forward, holding her right arm in the air. "Please! They're coming!"

Two security guards began to run from the sides of the store when a smelly, groaning creature crawled in behind the woman, grabbing her ankle and pulling her toward it. The woman shrieked in panic, but nobody moved. The creature bit into her ankle as the woman thrashed her body, screaming for help until the bite came down on her stomach, ripping her torso open. Catra turned around, holding a hand on her mouth, eyes widened. The old lady she just ringed up walked calmly over to her as screaming ensued from behind them. People started fleeing from the scene, panic rising in the air. 

"There's no need to worry," she spoke in the generally cheerful tone she had. "I need to get home to my Mara. Make sure she's safe." She patted Catra on the shoulder and began to walk to the side entrance. 

"Wait, it's not safe," Catra called while turning around. But she was already gone. Catra sighed, closing her eyes. She turned back around, fiddling with the piercing on her lip with her tongue. She looked through the window as two heavily armoured vehicles sped up the street, one of them pulling over at the store. 

A group of people carrying guns and wearing various types of armour ran out of the van and into the store. They shot the monster in the head and turned their guns on the now motionless woman. The few people left in the store looked on, seemingly frozen in terror. One of the armed people turned to the rest of the store. 

"You all need to leave immediately and get somewhere safe," a loud, but muffled voice said. "Now," she demanded. A low gurgling ensued from the body on the floor. The soldier turned to look as the once inanimate woman began to stir. 

The body of the half-eaten woman began to crawl along the floor, using its hands to move forward. The people standing in the vicinity ran to the right side of the store where the cashiers worked. Catra tensed up, eyeing the door parallel to her. Part of her wanted to run. To forget this mess ever happened and go home to her roommates. She wanted to see if the lady was okay. If anything bad happened, she felt responsible. 

But some sick, twisted part of her wanted to stay to see what happens next. The scene developing in front of her was interesting, to say the least. The soldiers seemed reluctant to shoot, but they were aiming their weapons at the moving corpse. With every inch forward, a barely audible growling came from the throat of the monster. _Maybe she’s alive,_ Catra thought. The heavily injured woman raised her head, revealing glossed over eyes and skin that was already rotting. Catra felt a chill run up her spine. _Maybe not._

Catra’s leg buzzed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, which kept buzzing every couple of seconds. 

**Scorpia:**

_Catra_

_Catra_

_Catra are you there?_

_Oh God, please tell me you didn’t die!_

_You were such a good friend!_

Catra rolled her eyes, swiping away the notifications and opening the messaging app to reply. 

**Catra:**

_relax im here_

_what do you want_

**Scorpia:**

_CATRA!_

_You’re okay!_

**Catra:**

_of course im ok_

_why wouldnt i be_

**Scorpia:**

_Haven’t you seen the news? There are some sort of awful creatures running around!_

**Catra:**

_i know_

_theres one here_

**Scorpia:**

_WHAT?_

_Okay that's it_

_We’re on our way to pick you up_

Catra shoved her phone back in her pocket. She grabbed the money she put on the side and put it in her pocket, rubbing her thumb on a quarter. She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. It seemed like some sort of plot from a bad movie. But it wasn’t. It was happening right there in front of her. And apparently everywhere else according to Scorpia. Everything that was happening _had_ to be some sort of dream right? Catra pinched herself in the arm and then winced at the pain. _Okay, so not a dream._ She heard tire squealing and her phone started to buzz again. 

**Scorpia:**

_Catra, hi! It’s me, Entrapta_

_We’re right outside_

_Come outside_

_Ooohhh Scorpia wants her phone back_

_Okaytalktoyoulaterbyeeee_

Catra rolled her eyes at the screen and looked through the window to see a black Heep Tangler sitting outside. A tall woman with white hair sat at the driver’s seat two metallic prosthetic arms reflecting the light from outside. A shorter, purple-haired woman sat next to her. They both waved intensely through the window, mouthing words Catra didn’t understand. Catra waved back at them with a blank expression. She picked up her bag from the break room and walked outside, entering the car.

“Hi, Catra,” the purple-haired one greeted her. She ran her hands through her pigtails. “Scorpia and I came to pick you up, seeing as there is some sort of disease or virus of some sort resulting in the upbringing of what appears to be… dead people,” she continued. “However, in the information gathered on my research, it’s more likely that what is causing this is some sort of rabies-like virus, or a parasite, probably something similar to a _toxoplasma gondii_ .” Entrapta saw the confused stares she got from the other two. “ _Toxoplasma gondii_ is a parasite that infects rodent’s brains with toxoplasmosis and essentially takes control of the movements, making the host unafraid of predators, hoping to get eaten to then infect the predators.”

Scorpia opened her mouth to interject, but Entrapta cut her off.

“That alone wouldn’t be enough of course,” Entrapta continued with a giggle. “It’d have to evolve with enough proficiency to be able to overtake our minds to ‘control’ us.” She waved her hands dismissively, but then placed a finger on her chin. “Although, rats _are_ similar to humans,” she added under her breath. “But that wouldn’t explain the increased rate of decay-”

“Catra!” Scorpia finally interrupted. Entrapta sat back in her seat, putting her headphones back on. Electronic music blared from the set, audible to both Catra and Scorpia. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Scorpia continued. She looked in the rearview mirror at Catra. “Ohh, if I could hug you right now I would,” she said, shaking her metallic arms in the air. “You are okay, right? Nothing hurt you or got you or anything?”

Catra shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” She buckled her seat belt. “Now, can we get this show on the road? There’s a lot of those… things coming up behind us.” She glanced behind her. 

“Yeah, for sure,” Scorpia replied, turning the ignition on. The car started to move. “I don’t like them. They always... _lurk_.” Scorpia shuddered.

“So you’d say they’re… lurkers,” Catra jeered with a smirk. 

Scorpia coughed. “Uh yeah, actually. Maybe we should call them that.”

Catra let out a noise of agreement and settled back in her seat, looking out the window. _Maybe I’ll see that lady from before._ She sighed and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of her.

"What do you think we should do? About everything happening." Scorpia's voice broke the silence. 

Catra looked up and at Scorpia. "Well, I see you have already prepared things for us," she said, looking at the items in the back of the car and at her feet. "So I don't really see a need to do anything else." 

"You're right," Entrapta yelled, taking off her headphones. "We _could_ go get the car to full at the gas station, but we don't need to worry about that too much." She clapped her gloved hands together in excitement. "My work partner Bow and I recently finished prototypes for a solar-powered engine! I have it charging right now on the roof," she pointed up, "and we can connect it to our car whenever we run out of gas. Which should take a while since I made it so we are very gas efficient." 

"Oh, you mean Bow as in your alleged coworker we have never once met or seen a picture of?" Catra crossed her arms. 

"Yes, that's the one," Entrapta confirmed. "I don't know any other Bows, so I don't see the need to ask," she added with a confused head tilt. 

Scorpia chimed in. "She meant it sarcastically," she explained. "I think she's trying to imply that she thinks Bow isn't real." She looked over at Entrapta. "Of course, I believe you!" 

Entrapta nodded. "I appreciate your trust, Scorpia. And I acknowledge your sarcasm, Catra." Entrapta typed something on her phone, then put the headphones back on. 

Catra sat back in her seat, watching hordes of lurkers roam around on the street. She saw a group of them wearing military-style armour and shook her head. _They didn't stand a chance, so what does that mean for us?_

She fiddled with her lip ring, staring out the window. A fast-moving duo caught her eye. She focused on them, seeing the short lady with the pink dress and a taller, dark-skinned woman with her. Catra pressed her hands to the glass. 

"Scorpia, pull over to those people!"

The car pulled over and slowed down, allowing Catra to jump out before the car even stopped. She stumbled but managed to stay on her feet. "It's you! From the grocery store," she said breathlessly to the lady. Catra looked up at the woman. "You must be Mara," she said holding out her hand. 

Mara nodded and shook her hand. "Yes, I'm Mara," she said with a polite smile. "This is my friend Razz." She gestured to the shorter woman who waved her cane at Catra. "You must be Catra. Razz told me about you from the grocery store before she hurried out to find me." 

Catra nodded. "Yup, that's me. Are you both okay? I was worried about…uh, Razz when she left," she told Mara. "But it seems like she's in good hands," she added, really noticing Mara's well-built frame. She must have been a few years older than Catra herself, but she definitely looked a lot stronger. 

Mara smiled, putting a hand on Razz's shoulder. "It's more like _I'm_ the one in good hands," she said. "We take care of each other, but Razz is certainly feisty." 

"Yes, Madame Razz can put up quite a fight," Razz exclaimed, waving her fists in the air. Catra let out a snort. 

"Well, we better get going. Don't want to be caught. " Mara tugged on Razz's sleeve and took a step. 

"Are you sure you don't want to join us, or at least get a ride to where we're going?" Catra pointed at the car where Scorpia and Entrapta were watching with wide eyes. Catra groaned. 

"Yes, thank you. We're okay." Mara grinned at the car. "Perhaps we'll run into each other again. Razz and I have a pie to make." Mara waved at Catra. 

Catra nodded and walked back to the car, taking a final glance behind her, but they were already gone. She sighed and got in, sitting in the back seat once again. 

"They seemed nice. Who were they?" Entrapta turned around to face Catra. 

"I met the older one at the store before all of this shit broke out," Catra explained. 

"Oh, okay." Entrapta turned back around, looking at her phone screen. "Speaking of _this shit_ , as Catra said, I think we should go north! If this is some sort of virus or parasite, maybe it won't survive in the cold."

"I think that's a great idea," Scorpia chimed in. 

"Sure, whatever. But if we freeze to death, it's on you, Entrapta." 

"What's on me?" Entrapta paused for a second to think. "Oh, the blame. Well, I assure you we won't _freeze_ to death unless you for some reason decide to take off the winter jackets I made for us last year. Although, it's quite possible we die of infection, dysentery, starvation-" 

Catra grunted. "Yeah, alright 'Trapta. They're very warm." 

"Yes, I would hope so. That was the whole point of the material I fabricated," Entrapta said. Catra nodded. 

"Okay, Super Pal Trio! Now it's time for us to go!" Scorpia accelerated the car quickly, sending everyone lunging forward a bit. "Hah, sorry. Got a little excited." 

The car took off at a quick speed, barreling down the street. _And the fuck away from this hell hole,_ Catra added to herself. The three of them were caught up in a mild conversation about when their food break would be when a red car shot out from the street next to them. They all shrieked as the two cars skidded to a stop. 

Catra whipped forward, her eyes wide. She looked out her window at the other car and threw the door open. She jumped out, as did one of the passengers from the other vehicle. 

"What's the big idea?" They both yelled at the same time. 

Catra looked at the person standing opposite her and took in the sight. It was the same blonde girl from before, the one who was stealing a drink. Catra crossed her arms, huffing. "Oh, it's you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2!!!!! I hope you guys enjoy this one, it was fun to write. I have some good plans for this fic, I cant wait to write it all.
> 
> check out my friends she ra fic. we're updating at the same time every week so its a double whammy!  
> [ **Ghost**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25594123) (3824 words) by [**ElectricSkelly**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricSkelly)  
>  Chapters: 2/?  
> 


	3. Oh, it's you.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra meets a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Woke up on the wrong side of reality  
> And there's a madness that's just coursing right through me  
> And as far as the time, far as the time  
> Not sure I'm there yet but I'm certain I've arrived"
> 
> Young and Menace - Fall Out Boy

"Well that was weird." Catra watched as the blonde who she had just allowed to steal a drink left the store, taking a final glance back to her. Catra lowered her eyebrows, trying to decide whether or not that was a good idea. 

"She reminds me of my Mara," a nasally voice called to her. Catra looked over at a short, older woman wearing a pink dress. "Well, sort of. My Mara looked different, but I can sense that they both have good souls," the woman told Catra, who nodded with a confused expression. 

"Sure," Catra muttered as she began to scan the woman's items.  _ Berries, flour, sugar, and butter. Seems like she's making pie,  _ Catra decided with an amused snort. 

"Yes, I am making pie," the lady announced simultaneously as Catra finished her thought. Catra jumped a little. "She promised she'd help me, you know." 

Catra narrowed her eyes as she finished scanning the items. "Okay, your total comes up to 15.85." She watched as the lady reached into her purse and pulled out a 20 dollar bill. She handed it to Catra with a smile on her face, pushing up her giant yellow-tinted glasses. 

"Keep the change dearie," she told Catra who opened her mouth, then closed it, putting in the exact amount of money owed in the register and the extra on the side.

Catra gave her a polite smile and held out a receipt. "Thank you for shopping at Bullseye. Have a nice day," she began to say before getting interrupted by a scream from the entrance of the store. They both turned to look. 

"Lock the doors! There's a thing chasing me!" A woman stumbled to the floor in front of the automatic door, blood covering her shirt. She crawled forward, holding her right arm in the air. "Please! They're coming!"

Two security guards began to run from the sides of the store when a smelly, groaning creature crawled in behind the woman, grabbing her ankle and pulling her toward it. The woman shrieked in panic, but nobody moved. The creature bit into her ankle as the woman thrashed her body, screaming for help until the bite came down on her stomach, ripping her torso open. Catra turned around, holding a hand on her mouth, eyes widened. The old lady she just ringed up walked calmly over to her as screaming ensued from behind them. People started fleeing from the scene, panic rising in the air. 

"There's no need to worry," she spoke in the generally cheerful tone she had. "I need to get home to my Mara. Make sure she's safe." She patted Catra on the shoulder and began to walk to the side entrance. 

"Wait, it's not safe," Catra called while turning around. But she was already gone. Catra sighed, closing her eyes. She turned back around, fiddling with the piercing on her lip with her tongue. She looked through the window as two heavily armoured vehicles sped up the street, one of them pulling over at the store. 

A group of people carrying guns and wearing various types of armour ran out of the van and into the store. They shot the monster in the head and turned their guns on the now motionless woman. The few people left in the store looked on, seemingly frozen in terror. One of the armed people turned to the rest of the store. 

"You all need to leave immediately and get somewhere safe," a loud, but muffled voice said. "Now," she demanded. A low gurgling ensued from the body on the floor. The soldier turned to look as the once inanimate woman began to stir. 

The body of the half eaten woman began to crawl along the floor, using its hands to move forward. The people standing in the vicinity ran to the right side of the store where the cashiers worked. Catra tensed up, eyeing the door parallel to her. Part of her wanted to run. To forget this mess ever happened and go home to her roommates. She wanted to see if the lady was okay. If anything bad happened, she felt responsible. 

But some sick, twisted part of her wanted to stay to see what happens next. The scene developing in front of her was interesting to say the least. The soldiers seemed reluctant to shoot, but they were aiming their weapons at the moving corpse. With every inch forward, a barely audible growling came from the throat of the monster.  _ Maybe she’s alive,  _ Catra thought. The heavily injured woman raised her head, revealing glossed over eyes and skin that was already rotting. Catra felt a chill run up her spine.  _ Maybe not.  _

Catra’s leg buzzed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, which kept buzzing every couple seconds. 

**Scorpia:**

_ Catra _

_ Catra _

_ Catra are you there? _

_ Oh God, please tell me you didn’t die! _

_ You were such a good friend!  _

Catra rolled her eyes, swiping away the notifications and opening the messaging app to reply. 

**Catra:** __

_ relax im here _

_ what do you want  _

**Scorpia:**

_ CATRA! _

_ You’re okay! _

**Catra:**

_ of course im ok _

_ why wouldnt i be _

**Scorpia:**

_ Haven’t you seen the news? There are some sort of awful creatures running around!  _

**Catra:**

_ i know _

_ theres one here _

**Scorpia:**

_ WHAT? _

_ Okay that's it _

_ We’re on our way to pick you up _

Catra shoved her phone back in her pocket. She grabbed the money she put on the side and put it in her pocket, rubbing her thumb on a quarter. She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. It seemed like some sort of plot from a bad movie. But it wasn’t. It was happening right there in front of her. And apparently everywhere else according to Scorpia. Everything that was happening  _ had _ to be some sort of dream right? Catra pinched herself in the arm, and then winced at the pain.  _ Okay, so not a dream.  _ She heard tire squealing and her phone started to buzz again. 

**Scorpia:**

_ Catra, hi! It’s me, Entrapta _

_ We’re right outside _

_ Come outside _

_ Ooohhh Scorpia wants her phone back _

_ Okaytalktoyoulaterbyeeee _

Catra rolled her eyes at the screen and looked through the window to see a black Heep Tangler sitting outside. A tall woman with white hair sat at the driver’s seat two metallic prosthetic arms reflecting the light from outside. A shorter, purple haired woman sat next to her. They both waved intensely through the window, mouthing words Catra didn’t understand. Catra waved back at them with a blank expression. She picked up her bag from the break room and walked outside, entering the car.

“Hi, Catra,” the purple haired one greeted her. She ran her hands through her pigtails. “Scorpia and I came to pick you up, seeing as there is some sort of disease or virus of some sort resulting in the upbringing of what appears to be… dead people,” she continued. “However, in the information gathered on my research, it’s more likely that what is causing this is some sort of rabies-like virus,or a parasite, probably something similar to a  _ toxoplasma gondii _ .” Entrapta saw the confused stares she got from the other two. “ _ Toxoplasma gondii  _ is a parasite that infects rodent’s brains with toxoplasmosis and essentially takes control of the movements, making the host unafraid of predators, hoping to get eaten to then infect the predators.”

Scorpia opened her mouth to interject, but Entrapta cut her off.

“That alone wouldn’t be enough of course,” Entrapta continued with a giggle. “It’d have to evolve with enough proficiency to be able to overtake our minds to ‘control’ us.” She waved her hands dismissively, but then placed a finger on her chin. “Although, rats  _ are  _ similar to humans,” she added under her breath. “But that wouldn’t explain the increased rate of decay-”

“Catra!” Scorpia finally interrupted. Entrapta sat back in her seat, putting her headphones back on. Electronic music blared from the set, audible to both Catra and Scorpia. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Scorpia continued. She looked in the rear view mirror at Catra. “Ohh, if I could hug you right now I would,” she said, shaking her metallic arms in the air. “You are okay right? Nothing hurt you or got you or anything?”

Catra shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” She buckled her seat belt. “Now, can we get this show on the road? There’s a lot of those… things coming up behind us.” She glanced behind her. 

“Yeah, for sure,” Scorpia replied, turning the ignition on. The car started to move. “I don’t like them. They always... _ lurk _ .” Scorpia shuddered.

“So you’d say they’re… lurkers,” Catra jeered with a smirk. 

Scorpia coughed. “Uh yeah, actually. Maybe we should call them that.”

Catra let out a noise of agreement and settled back in her seat, looking out the window.  _ Maybe I’ll see that lady from before.  _ She sighed and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of her.

"What do you think we should do? About everything happening." Scorpia's voice broke the silence. 

Catra looked up and at Scorpia. "Well, I see you have already prepared things for us," she said, looking at the items in the back of the car and at her feet. "So I don't really see a need to do anything else." 

"You're right," Entrapta yelled, taking off her headphones. "We  _ could _ go get the car to full at the gas station, but we don't need to worry about that too much." She clapped her gloved hands together in excitement. "My work partner Bow and I recently finished prototypes for a solar powered engine! I have it charging right now on the roof," she pointed up, "and we can connect it to our car whenever we run out of gas. Which should take a while since I made it so we are very gas efficient." 

"Oh, you mean Bow as in your alleged coworker we have never once met or seen a picture of?" Catra crossed her arms. 

"Yes, that's the one," Entrapta confirmed. "I don't know any other Bows, so I don't see the need to ask," she added with a confused head tilt. 

Scorpia chimed in. "She meant it sarcastically," she explained. "I think she's trying to imply that she thinks Bow isn't real." She looked over at Entrapta. "Of course, I believe you!" 

Entrapta nodded. "I appreciate your trust, Scorpia. And I acknowledge your sarcasm, Catra." Entrapta typed something in her phone, then put the headphones back on. 

Catra sat back in her seat, watching hordes of lurkers roam around on the street. She saw a group of them wearing military-style armour and shook her head.  _ They didn't stand a chance,so what does that mean for us?  _

She fiddled with her lip ring, staring out the window. A fast moving duo caught her eye. She focused on them, seeing the short lady with the pink dress and a taller, dark skinned woman with her. Catra pressed her hands to the glass. 

"Scorpia, pull over to those people!"

The car pulled over and slowed down, allowing Catra to jump out before the car even stopped. She stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet. "It's you! From the grocery store," she said breathlessly to the lady. Catra looked up at the woman. "You must be Mara," she said holding out her hand. 

Mara nodded and shook her hand. "Yes, I'm Mara," she said with a polite smile. "This is my friend Razz." She gestured to the shorter woman who waved her cane at Catra. "You must be Catra. Razz told me about you from the grocery store before she hurried out to find me." 

Catra nodded. "Yup, that's me. Are you both okay? I was worried about…uh, Razz when she left," she told Mara. "But it seems like she's in good hands," she added, really noticing Mara's well built frame. She must have been a few years older than Catra herself, but she definitely looked a lot stronger. 

Mara smiled, putting a hand on Razz's shoulder. "It's more like  _ I'm  _ the one in good hands," she said. "We take care of each other, but Razz is certainly feisty." 

"Yes, Madame Razz can put up quite a fight," Razz exclaimed, waving her fists in the air. Catra let out a snort. 

"Well, we better get going. Don't want to be caught. " Mara tugged on Razz's sleeve and took a step. 

"Are you sure you don't want to join us, or at least get a ride to where we're going?" Catra pointed at the car where Scorpia and Entrapta were watching with wide eyes. Catra groaned. 

"Yes, thank you. We're okay." Mara grinned at the car. "Perhaps we'll run into each other again. Razz and I have pie to make." Mara waved at Catra. 

Catra nodded and walked back to the car, taking a final glance behind her, but they were already gone. She sighed and got in, sitting in the back seat once again. 

"They seemed nice. Who were they?" Entrapta turned around to face Catra. 

"I met the older one at the store before all of this shit broke out," Catra explained. 

"Oh, okay." Entrapta turned back around, looking at her phone screen. "Speaking of  _ this shit _ , as Catra said, I think we should go north! If this is some sort of virus or parasite, maybe it won't survive in the cold."

"I think that's a great idea," Scorpia chimed in. 

"Sure, whatever. But if we freeze to death, it's on you, Entrapta." 

"What's on me?" Entrapta paused for a second to think. "Oh, the blame. Well I assure you we won't  _ freeze  _ to death unless you for some reason decide to take off the winter jackets I made for us last year." 

Catra grunted. "Yeah, alright 'Trapta. They're very warm." 

"Yes, I would hope so. That was the whole point of the material I fabricated," Entrapta said. Catra nodded. 

"Okay, Super Pal Trio! Now it's time for us to go!" Scorpia accelerated the car quickly, sending everyone lunging forward a bit. "Hah, sorry. Got a little excited." 

The car took off at a quick speed, barreling down the street.  _ And the fuck away from this hell hole, _ Catra added to herself. The three of them were caught up in a mild conversation about when their food break would be when a red car shot out from the street next to them. They all shrieked as the two cars skidded to a stop. 

Catra whipped forward, her eyes wide. She looked out her window at the other car, and threw the door open. She jumped out, as did one of the passengers from the other vehicle. 

"What's the big idea?" They both yelled at the same time. 

Catra looked at the person standing opposite from her, and took in the sight. It was the same blonde girl from before, the one who was stealing a drink. Catra crossed her arms, huffing. "Oh, it's you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back for chapter two!!! Hope you guys like this one! 
> 
> Will be uploading every Friday at 10pm EST assuming I actually get to writing.


	4. Red-Hot (as in Anger)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confrontation (and a bit of loathing).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Dark in their hearts,  
> I can feel it burn inside of me  
> Tormented young with no souls, haunting me  
> Pain in their lives all they know is misery  
> Take these chains away that are holding me down"
> 
> Eternal Rest - Avenged Sevenfold

"Don't you need a license to have a sword?" 

Adora looked at Bow through the rearview mirror. "I don't think so, it's basically just a big knife." 

Bow widened his eyes. "You need a license to have a knife!" 

"Oh really? I didn't know that." Adora looked out the window at the empty sidewalks. It was definitely eerie. Glimmer started to chat with Bow, leaving Adora to her thoughts. 

She looked over at Swift Wind, all of a sudden very grateful for the large St. Bernard. She knew adopting him was a good idea. St. Bernards are known to be friendly, but Swift Wind was definitely loyal. Adora had full faith that he would defend her, and she would defend him. With a happy sigh, she placed her hand on his head and rubbed him, causing him to happily roll his tongue out of his mouth.

Within a second, the car skidded to a stop without warning, sending a seatbelt-less Adora flinging forward against Glimmer's seat. She removed her face from the headrest in front of her and rubbed her face.  _ What the hell?  _ Bow and Glimmer turned to her to check on her, which she dismissed due to her lack of serious injury. 

She jumped out of the car, facing another person who had just done the same. "What's the big idea?" She harmonized with the familiar voice. Adora blinked her vision into focus. 

The cashier from before adjusted her stance and crossed her arms. "Oh, it's you." 

Adora took a second to process what she was seeing in front of her. The cashier from the store she just robbed, even if it was a drink, stood there. Still in her work uniform. Adora hadn't noticed her piercings before, but now that they reflected the light beaming on the two of them they were hard to miss. The glare in her dual-coloured eyes felt heavy. 

"You're that cashier from before," Adora finally exclaimed. 

Catra snorted. "Yeah, and you're that girl who robbed us. What was it, a drink?" A sly smile crept up her face. Adora's face flushed. 

"Wait, you stole a drink?" Adora turned around to face Glimmer, accompanied by a very confused Bow. 

Catra walked over to Glimmer. "Adora," she echoed with a scoff. "Yeah, she didn't tell you? I assumed it wasn't a secret since she was being so obvious about it," she mentioned innocently as she eyed Glimmer from head to toe. 

Glimmer ignored her. "Adora. What?" She fumbled over her words, ending up with a confused grunt. 

Adora rubbed the back of her neck. "Glimmer, I had no choice. My boss refused to give me my paycheck and he…" Adora clenched her fists. "Well, he fired me and I had no more money left and I needed a new job but I was too embarrassed to ask you for money so I went to the store to get a drink because I had just cried my eyes out and also to ask for a job-" 

"Adora, you shouldn't steal," Bow spoke up. "You could have just asked us, we could have helped you." 

Catra looked at the taller man walking up to them now. He seemed to be around the same age as Catra. All of them did. He had light stubble framing his jaw, but his voice had the uncertain crack of a boy. She couldn't help but grin at his crop top. 

"I know, but it doesn't matter now." Adora turned to Catra. "Thanks, by the way." She didn't explain further. Catra knew what she meant. 

"No problem." 

"Catra!" Catra turned her head at the sound of her name. Entrapta ran over to the group, followed closely by a fumbling Scorpia. "Oh, I see you've met my friend Bow!" Entrapta gestured to the boy standing next to Glimmer and Adora. "He's the one I work with." 

"That's Bow?" Catra narrowed her eyes in surprise. 

Adora had the same reaction. "Bow,  _ that's  _ Entrapta?" She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing right. There was no way that the short, purple-haired woman was Entrapta. That means that she was mutual friends with her  _ and  _ that cashier. 

"Yeah, we never got to introduce each other but I guess now we all know each other," Bow said sheepishly. "Entrapta, this is Adora and Glimmer." He gestured toward the two girls who waved at the group. "That must be Scorpia and Catra." He waved at them. Scorpia gave him a cheeky grin. Catra did not give face. 

"Okay, am I the only one who thinks this is weird," Catra said, shoving a waving Scorpia to the side. "I mean, I meet…  _ Blondie _ here while she's robbing my workplace and simultaneously asking for a job there," Adora ducked her head, squinting hard at the floor, "and turns out she's friends with my roommate's friend?" She furrowed her eyebrows before raising a hand and pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to understand. 

Scorpia stepped out, clasping her hands together. "Fate has brought us together," she said fondly, which resulted in a loud groan from Catra. "It can't be a coincidence." 

"It's not," Entrapta interjected. "Bow and I predetermined this meeting," she said as if it was matter-of-fact. "Well, of course, we didn't want to meet  _ here _ . That part was an accident. But now we're all acquainted so I guess it doesn't matter." She walked over to their car and rubbed the hood. "Emily! I'm so glad you're okay," she smiled. 

Adora pressed her lips together. There was too much happening and her brain was struggling to make it make sense. She ran her fingers through the end of her ponytail. "Okay, so what's the deal here? Why did you and Bow want to meet?" Adora was starting to feel overwhelmed, and truthfully a little unnerved by the crawlers that were inevitably making their way to them. 

"We were thinking about maybe teaming up," Bow suggested with a squeaky voice. "Entrapta is the smartest person I know, and together I think we'd be incredibly useful." 

Entrapta popped out from behind Glimmer, causing her to jump in the air. "It's true, while I, on my own, am capable of creating and advancing my scientific research, having Bow there to help really makes things easier and more efficient." Bow beamed at the praise. "It really is a simple matter of survival. Having a larger group poses more pros than cons, especially in a situation such as the one we're in." Bow nodded in approval at Entrapta's words. 

Catra stepped out to the centre. "Hold on. You want to team up with them? " She asked, emphasizing the last word. "No offence, but is it smart to team up with Sparkles, Crop Top, and Blondie?" She flicked her gaze between the three friends. Adora felt anger rising in her. 

Swift Wind jumped out of the car, standing in front of Adora. He barked once, then growled at Catra, who jumped backwards with a squeal.

"They have a dog?" Catra narrowed her eyes at Swift Wind. "Okay, there is  _ no  _ way we're teaming up with them." 

Adora clenched her fists. "Well, I wasn't exactly excited to team up with  _ you _ anyway." She bared her teeth at Catra, who in return gave her a cold stare. They stayed glaring at each other, each in a defensive position, ready to strike. 

Scorpia stepped between both of them, separating them. "Okay, relax you two." She turned her gaze to Catra. "Wildcat, you need to calm down. I think teaming up is a great idea, the more allies we have, the better chance we have of surviving," she rationalized. Catra's shoulders eased up, her muscles relaxing. She looked at Scorpia, then gave a final cold stare to Adora who's muscles were still bunched up. 

"Fine. I'm in for it." Catra crossed her arms, looking toward the stretch of road next to them. Her eyes gave away nothing, except for a hint of frustration.

Scorpia grinned. She looked to Adora and Glimmer. "What do you guys think?" 

Glimmer and Adora turned to look at each other. There were no words spoken, but a conversation lingered in their eyes. After a silent moment, they both nodded in agreement. "We're in," Adora spoke. 

"Great!" Entrapta butted in. "I assume you guys are also heading north. It's the most logical place to be heading, and I know Bow is smart enough to have told you to do it if you didn't decide for yourselves." At Adora's nodding, Entrapta continued. "We really only need one car, but seeing as how Catra is afraid of your St. Bernard-" 

"I am not!" 

"-It would be wise to stay in our separate cars, at least until we are required to travel together," she finished. 

Bow nodded. "Maybe we'll even find a bigger car?" 

Glimmer stuck up a hand, pointing a finger in the air to draw attention to herself. "You mean, steal a car?" 

"Well, Blondie has already crossed that line." Everyone turned to look at Catra, who was too busy inspecting her neatly polished black nails. 

Adora fumed. "What did you say?" The lack of response made her even angrier. She lunged at Catra who simply stepped to the side. 

"Relax, it's a joke," the tanned young woman muttered. Everyone took a collective sigh. Adora clenched her jaw as Glimmer stepped forward to hold her by the shoulders, her grip surprisingly tight. 

"Anyway," Bow said with a sideways glance at Adora who looked at the floor with balled fists, "I guess we can just follow you guys for a bit. We'll find a place to set up camp and maybe stay for a bit and then we'll reconvene. Sounds good?" Everyone made a noise of approval while Adora just nodded reluctantly. 

"Great, let's go." Bow tugged Adora by the loop of her pants, signalling her to follow. She huffed and went to the car, pushing Swift Wind in the backseat with her. 

-

"Can you believe her?" Adora gritted her teeth together. The previous interaction had rendered her furious. First, giving her a stupid nickname and then implying she did something wrong. Well, she  _ did  _ but Catra was in no place to call her out for it. She let her get away with it after all. Adora’s knuckles turned white. “Speaking to me like that,” she muttered under her breath. Swift Wind barked as if to say he agreed with Adora. She rubbed him behind the ears. 

It was easy for Adora to take things at face level, to not understand jokes. Especially when they were about her. What might be seen as friendly teasing to others, Adora may take as a challenge against her. There were no jokes growing up. There were only strict expectations and a disregard for Adora's emotional needs if these goals were not met. 

Now, as a 24-year-old woman, she found herself falling into old habits. Allowing herself to become angry at people who mirrored her parents. Situations that reminded her of moments past. The memories became too much sometimes, and she became angry. Why did her own parents not care for her? She was frustrated her whole life, and never found an answer. 

Adora fell victim to her own mind, thinking of worst-case scenarios. Potential  _ what ifs _ ? What if the only people that cared about her suddenly stopped caring? What if it was all a ploy and they only wanted to exploit her somehow? She tried to rationalize with herself- that it wasn't true. But even the thought of it upset her, and time and time again Glimmer would ask why Adora's hand was bruised and red at the knuckles, or why there was another dent in the wall. 

She wasn't proud of her outbursts of rage, of course. They didn't happen as often anymore; Bow and Glimmer knew what set her off and often avoided getting Adora into those types of situations or conversations. But sometimes, Adora would get stuck in her thoughts for too long, or see something in a book or on the internet that would cause her insides to crawl and squirm and become tendrils of fire that spread throughout her body and threatened to escape through clenched fists or red hot words. 

Rarely, would she ever end up physically hurting someone other than herself. Her mostly uncontrollable violent outbursts were usually strategically employed against inanimate objects, and for a whole Adora thought to take up boxing. She didn't. But there was the rare time she would threaten to hurt someone, sometimes herself. Bow would be especially good at talking her down, leaving her in a mess of tears and confusion and anger. Clawing at her own skin as if trying to burst out of it and find answers elsewhere, outside of her own body. 

Her arms were often bandaged up as she had the bad habit of scratching her skin until it bled. Trying to punish herself for not being good enough. For being unlovable. Maybe she was trying to peel away at herself as if there was some sort of upper layer she could dispose of to reveal a completely different person below. A blank slate. One that didn't make the same mistakes or have the same memories. If she could dispose of herself entirely, she would. 

She was supposed to bring pride to her family name but failed every time she tried to make her parents proud. The necessities were a prize she often lost. Why couldn't she just be good enough? Bow and Glimmer insisted she was, and that they loved her with every fibre of their being, and Adora loved them too. But deep down she knew that if her own parents didn't love her, then nobody else did. 

She straightened her back, grinding her teeth with such ferocity that a vein in her neck bulged. She felt herself slipping. Her body seemed to fade away from her, and she recognized the signs of an upcoming outburst. With a sigh, she took a deep breath trying to relax her jaw. Her fingers rubbed uselessly at her sleeve, unable to penetrate the fabric armour she wore. Swift Wind seemed to pick up on Adora's mood change and dropped his head in her lap, snapping her out of a trance. She scratched his chin, resulting in a tail wag. 

Glimmer gazed at her through the side-view mirror. She turned to look at her. "Everything okay back there?" Her face wore an uneasy frown, a look Adora had seen thousands of times before. One that she could only interpret as "You're acting weird again, and we're worried." She was right to be worried. 

Adora made a dismissive noise, not daring to make eye contact with Glimmer. She was too afraid of outright punching her.  _ Breathe in. _ The car bumped over a pothole.  _ Breathe out.  _ Adora felt a shiver run up her spine. A moment passed, and Adora felt secure enough in her ability to control herself.

"It's just how she talked to me," Adora finally stated through gritted teeth. Glimmer's frown deepened. 

"It made me feel like a child again," Adora murmured, digging her face into the crooks of her elbows. Maybe if she hid well enough, she could curl up into a tight ball and completely disappear forever. 

The silence in the car roared in Adora's ears. Her heartbeat grew louder and louder in her head. Why did she have to ruin everything? Of course, even after all this time her friends didn't really know how to help her other than to just listen. Not even Bow said anything. They didn't understand what was wrong with her.  _ Adora herself  _ didn't understand what was wrong with her. She couldn't blame them, they didn't know the full story. It's not like it's a fun one to tell. 

Adora had one half of her filled with pure, unbridled anger. Energetic as a rested cat and ready to fight like a trained pit bull. But the other half of her was tired, her muscles too heavy to move. The aftermath of repressing another outburst. She was half glad she didn't actually punch that cashier in the face. She would have _ definitely _ ruined everything then.

She let herself succumb to the numbing state of paralysis her mind tried to force her into. Maybe it was for the best, she couldn't hurt anyone if she couldn't move. She slumped back against her seat, her body becoming heavier as every second passed. She felt miserable. Guilty. Out of control. Her eyes slowly drifted to gaze out the window of the car, driving slowly. 

Adora watched as the familiar landmarks passed her by. The church where she had spent endless Sundays. Where she no longer visited. The park that always seemed to be under some sort of construction was finally free to be used. The plastic was shiny and new. It had to be some kind of horrible irony that it probably would never be put to proper use now. She watched as the trees she had named as a kid slipped by. She couldn't remember their names. 

She watched as the elementary school she used to attend passed by her window. It was smaller than she recalled, but the implications sat heavily on her weary shoulders. If she had the energy to grow mad again, she would be upset. But now, all she felt was sadness as she recalled her school days. Her not good enough marks and the yelling from her parents. Her Bs were not good enough, how her performance always seemed to lack. She sank further into her seat. In the end, it didn't matter anyway. No matter what she did, it was bound to end up like this. Adora wished she had known that before. She wished she bore the gift of clairvoyance, to see into the future and know that in the end, everything goes wrong anyway. Would have saved little Adora from a lot of torment and neglect. 

She watched as the car passed by the remnants of her old house. Now burnt crisps. A reminder of what was, quite literally charred into the earth and Adora's body. She lifted her hand to her neck, moving the collar of her turtleneck down, tracing her fingers along her skin, feeling the wrinkled, deformed surface of her flesh that went from the right side of her cheek next to her mouth, down to the crook of her neck. She bore a scar over her heart and over her being, in a place she could not hide. There was no forgetting her horrible childhood. 

That made her angry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey thanks for reading this chapter! it was a bit hard to write, but i think it ended up pretty good! we'll definitely be seeing more of adora getting angry (and its not just random occurrence, there's a reason why it happens)


	5. Update Postponed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not a chapter

updates been postponed for this week due to all the funky shit happening with the panel. take care of yourselves everyone, ill see you next week


	6. Cottage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and her group, accompanied by the others, make it to their rendezvous location.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG FBDJSJD I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER

After around half an hour of sitting in the backseat of the car, Catra became acutely aware of the work uniform she was _still_ wearing. She never liked it. The shirt was made of a weird blend of cotton and polyester that made her skin itch, and the collar was too hard, jabbing at her neck no matter how she wore it. She itched her neck subconsciously, her nails turning the skin a soft red. 

"So you mean to tell me you didn't bring me any spare clothes?" Catra scowled, glaring at the rearview mirror at Scorpia, who wasn't looking back at her. 

"Sorry, Wildcat. We thought you had a change of clothes in your work bag." Scorpia made eye contact with a frowning Catra, giving her a sheepish smile. 

Catra groaned and pressed her forehead to the window. She watched as the sun set, painting the sky with oranges and pinks. She rarely got to see it from the till at the store she worked in. _I guess now I'll be seeing it more often._

She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around to look at the red SUV following them. She could briefly make out the figures inside. Crop Top seemed to be driving, with Sparkles in shotgun. Catra assumed that Blondie and the dog were in the backseat. She rolled her eyes and turned back around, facing forward. _I can't decide if it's stupid or smart to bring a dog along right now._

~

The sun was completely set, the only natural light now being whatever reflected off the moon and the occasional firefly. Catra was beginning to feel tired, her joints aching from being confined in the backseat. She adjusted her position to one where she could sprawl out across the entire seat. The car was silent, apart from Entrapta's music blaring from her headphones and Scorpia's completely unrelated humming. The sound of the engine became part of Catra's brain and no longer counted as ambience. 

They had been driving in silence for at least an hour, and Catra definitely didn't mind. She found some book under the seat she could read, and once the light ran out she tried to make out shapes in the stars. So far, she saw a cat, a snail, and a stick person. 

Catra had just gotten comfortable when the car drove over what must have been a speed bump that sent Catra barreling forward into the space normally reserved for legs. "Ow! What the fuck happened?" She sat up once the car stopped, rubbing her arm. 

"Oh, yikes! Are you okay?" Scorpia turned to face Catra. "I should have given you a heads up, there was always a weird bump in the road right before we got here."

Catra gave her a strange look. "And where exactly is _here?"_ She looked around through the window, her breath fogging up the glass. All she saw was a tree, the rest obscured by the darkness. 

"This is Scorpia's seasonal house. We thought it would be the optimal place to stay until things smoothed over," Entrapta chimed in, removing her headphones which continued to play music into the air even louder than before. "It's far away from populated areas, surrounded by wooded nature and it has several rooms so we can easily all stay here." 

Catra blinked. "Wait, Scorpia, you have a cottage? And we've never been?" 

Scorpia rubbed the back of her neck with a bashful smile. "Well it's my parents', really. I never brought us since… well you know." She turned the car ignition off. 

"Oh, right. My bad." Catra gazed out the window at the darkness of the forest when another set of headlights illuminated the surrounding area before the car trailing them pulled into the spot behind them. Catra groaned, sinking further into her seat. 

"Oh good! They're here." Entrapta opened her door and jumped out of the car, racing over to the SUV next to them to talk to Bow through the window. 

"Come on, let's go and talk to the others. We'll be staying with them for a while so we might as well get acquainted," Scorpia told Catra. 

Catra sighed. She really thought that the other group was rather strange, and she didn't like their dog. And all she could think of when Blondie was around was their awkward first meeting. Something about her made Catra… upset. She didn’t really like the other woman, and figured that they shared a mutual animosity. But if they had to get along now, then that would definitely cause some issues.

She stepped out of the door and dragged herself to the other car, where everyone else was standing in a group. Catra crossed her arms and leaned against the car, looking in the general direction of the group, but not at anyone specifically. 

"Oh, Catra! You came!" Scorpia gave her a friendly shove on the arm to which Catra responded with a curt smile. "Well, I know you all know this now but this is Catra," she said motioning to the disinterested woman. Catra gave them an annoyed wave.

Bow clapped his hands together once and exclaimed. "Ooh! Ooh! I have an idea!" Everyone turned to look at him. "We should go inside and do some icebreakers! We have a _bunch_ of opened bags of chips and stuff we can share!" 

Everyone nodded in agreement, a unified murmur of excitement spreading. Catra shrugged. _We'll be staying with them for a while so we might as well get acquainted,_ Scorpia's words echoed in her brain. The group split in two again, each side going to their respective vehicle and helped empty the trunk to carry their things inside. 

Catra grabbed as much as she could carry, bringing it inside and dropping it on the pile of stuff that came from her group's car. Once everyone was done, they all gathered to the living room and plastered themselves on the couches surrounding a table. Catra could tell everyone else was tired from their laboured breathing and slightly shiny foreheads. She took a deep breath and looked around, glad she was able to pick the solo chair that was there. 

Blondie took up an entire loveseat, spreading her legs across it with a satisfied grin on her face. The dog laying on the floor at the edge of the seat. Entrapta and Scorpia shared a couch, Scorpia taking the vast majority of it with her large form. Her and Entrapta were chatting about something, a familiar look of excitement as Entrapta blabbed on about something she found interesting, while Scorpia listened attentively. Crop Top and Sparkles sat on the love seat across from Blondie, sharing intimate jokes and laughing at each other. 

There was no way Catra could fit in with them. 

Once the chattering settled down, Bow took the lead. "Alright, so this is what we're going to do. We'll go in a circle and each say our names, and three fun facts about ourselves." _What is this, preschool?_ "I'll go first, then we'll go in a circle counterclockwise to Adora, and and at Catra. _He seems to know our names already, so what is even the point?_

"I'm Bow," he said earnestly. Everyone else, minus Catra, responded with a _Hi, Bow_ , before he kept going. "I've been taking archery lessons since I was 13, I work–er well, _worked_ at the Crypto Castle down on Fifth Street, and I love wearing crop tops!" _That's obvious._

It was Blondie's turn to go next. She raised her hand in a small wave. "Hi, I'm-" _Blondie._ "-Adora." Everyone greeted her, and again Catra stayed silent, her arms crossed in front of her. "I've taken self defense classes all my life, my favourite colour is red, and I have a dog named Swift Wind, or Swifty for short." At the mention of his name, the dog perked his head up. Catra snorted. _And you're a thief._ Blondie turned her gaze to Catra at the sound of her snort. Catra rolled her eyes and looked away. 

Scorpia stood up, catching Catra's eye. "Hey everyone! My name is Scorpia," she paused to let everyone say hi. "I have two prosthetic arms, although you could… see that," she chuckled awkwardly, scratching the side of her neck. "Um, I used to play the drums in a band! But we broke up because one of our band members got arrested." She trailed off for a second, before forcing an uncomfortable laughter. "Anyway, uh… I had a pet scorpion growing up, which is why everyone calls me Scorpia," she finished off. Entrapta blinked at her and she sat down. _Scorpia, being awkward as ever._

Entrapta squealed in delight once Scorpia finished speaking. "My turn! My name is Entrapta! I love technology so much, in fact I am always working on cool new designs and doing research for my inventions. Bow knows all about it," she said, pointing at Bow who nodded with a smile and a thumbs up. "I'm the one who named our car! Her name is Emily because she just looks like an Emily. And finally, I have to admit that I'm actually really excited that all of this is happening!" 

Everyone gave her a weird look. 

"I meant because of all the scientific knowledge I could gather! Imagine the possibilities! The research! Maybe I could develop a cure!" She squealed once more, and everyone softened their looks in understanding. _Entrapta's just being Entrapta. Always enthusiastic about all those smart things she likes._ Catra had to hold in a smile. She didn't understand Entrapta's excitement about science and things like that, but she sure as hell enjoyed her tangents about it. Most of the time. 

Now it was Catra's turn to do the _stupid_ ice breaker. She felt like she was in the worst summer camp of her life. At least at regular camp, there would be fun activities, but here there weren't. She groaned inwardly and cleared her throat. "Uh, I'm Catra," she said while pointing at her nametag. She didn't leave time for people to echo her name. "I worked at Bullseye before all this shit happened." She struggled to think of more facts. "I used to play soccer as a kid, and… I'm ambidextrous." 

Catra scanned the room, reading everyone's facial expressions. She caught Blondie's eye again, noticing she had a questioning glance on her face. She chose to ignore it. People always looked at her like that, and from a lot of personal experiences, it was always something mean. She slumped deeper into her chair and looked at Bow, hoping he'd say that everyone could go find their rooms or something. 

He stood up eyeing everyone. "Okay, well now, I suppose we should go get our rooms sorted!" Catra sighed in relief at his words. _Thank God._ "But don't get _too_ excited just yet! There's six of us and three rooms, meaning we'll have to pair off." Catra glanced over to Entrapta and Scorpia, hoping that one of them would want to bunk with her. _Nobody wants to bunk with me, though._

She just knew that Entrapta and Scorpia would go bunk with each other. Maybe that wasn't so bad, they both loved to talk a lot, unlike Catra, so they could keep each other entertained. Maybe the other three would bunk with each other and Catra could have a room to herself. She desperately wished that would be the case. _Wait, do each of the rooms have two beds?_ If the answer was yes, that could put a significant damper on her plans. Unless someone wanted to move a bed from one room to another. 

Once she snapped back to reality, everyone had already paired off. Entrapta and Scorpia, as Catra predicted, and the three other people. They seemed to be discussing something, each of them occasionally glancing at Catra. _They're arguing about who should be so unlucky to go with me._ She brought her head to her knees, hiding behind her forearms. 

  
  


"You should go with her," Glimmer hissed at Adora. 

Adora scoffed, fumbling with her words. "What? Why me? She hates me!" 

"Which is _exactly_ why you should go with her, Adora." Bow's voice was steady and almost _motherly._ "You'll have to make up then."

Adora crossed her arms, gazing over at Catra who was staring at them with an icy stare. "No way," she muttered under her breath. "Glimmer, I seriously think you should go with her. You're both _extremely_ arrogant." Adora sniffed at her words. "You could be friends." 

Glimmer gasped at the accusation. "That's so _rude,_ Adora!" She looked at Bow for help, but he just stepped back, putting his arms up to his side. "I want to bunk with _Bow._ " 

Adora snorted. "Yeah, that's _not_ happening. You two are just never going to sleep," she said, raising an eyebrow. Glimmer and Bow blushed. "If you make me bunk with _her,"_ she gestured with her head at Catra, "I will not hesitate to sneak into your room every night and sleep on the floor. I will make your life _hell_ ," she growled. 

~

Catra walked into the room that they had picked. It was dusty and dark, the beds were neatly made. With a sigh, she dropped her bag. "Alright, which bed do you want?" She turned to look at her roommate with a look of dismay. It was perfectly mirrored.

"I want the one farthest from the door. If any ankle biters come into the room, they'll get to you first." 

Catra rolled her eyes. "Very charming, Sparkles." 

"Uh, my name is _Glimmer_. Not Sparkles." Sparkled crossed her arms, giving Catra a stern look. 

_How did I get stuck with her?_ "Whatever, Glitter." She dragged her bad to the bed right in front of the door and spilled its content on it. "Did you lose a bet or something?" 

_Glimmer_ looked over. "I beg your pardon?" 

_Okay, beg._ "I mean, why were _you_ stuck with me?" She sorted through her belongings, sighing at the lack of clothes. _At least I have pyjamas_ , she thought. 

Glimmer struggled with her bag, letting out a groan of frustration. "Adora threatened to make my life hell if I didn't bunk with you." 

"Oh." Catra sounded hurt. 

Glimmer picked up on Catra's tone and softened her own. "She thinks you hate her. And I didn't want to risk figuring out if she was serious or not." She gave a dry laugh. 

Catra pursed her lips. She didn't _hate_ Blondie. If anything, she thought Blondie hated _her._ Regardless, it would have probably been awful to bunk with the blonde. _She'd definitely bring that stupid dog of hers._ "Well I'm glad it's you and not her," Catra said harshly. 

Glimmer chuckled. "She can be a rough roommate," she said with a smile. "Poor Bow. He has to listen to her snore." 

Catra grinned ever so slightly at the piles she made. "You don't snore?" 

"Hah! Yeah, I do. But Bow's used to it. He's not used to _Adora's_ snores," she explained. "Do you snore?" 

Catra gave her a glance. "Duh. Who doesn't?" She put her pajamas on her pillow, shaking off the dust on the top of the sheets. "I think the real question is _'Do you snore loudly?_ '" 

"Well do you? Snore loudly I mean." 

Catra shook her head. "Nah, I sleep as quiet as a kitten." 

"Hah!" Glimmer let out a single laugh. "That's funny… because your name is Catra." She sighed loudly. "You know, this isn't as bad as I thought." 

Catra crossed her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?" _Was Blondie talking trash about me?_

"Well Adora said you were mean and… arrogant," Glimmer carefully admitted.

Catra slapped her hands on her bag, making Glimmer flinch. "What? She thinks _I'm_ arrogant?" 

Glimmer nodded, covering a tiny smile with her hand. “Sorry.”

Catra sighed and rolled her eyes. "She's only seen me like… twice. Blondie sure is quick to jump to conclusions, huh?"

Glimmer sat on her bed. A squeak rang through the room. "Yeah, I'm not going to lie. She can be a bit rash sometimes." 

From what Catra had seen, she was right. Not only did Blondie make the _best_ first impression by stealing a drink ( _A drink!)_ from Catra’s workplace, but she had the nerve to ask her if they were hiring. Worst of all, she had the gall to be mad at _her_ as if she didn’t just let her get away with it. 

_I could have called security on her,_ Catra realized. _Maybe I should have._ She put her stuff on the table, jaw tensed from the possibility. _No, because then things would be worse now._ “I’m gonna change now. Don’t look,” Catra said, grabbing her pajamas.

Glimmer turned around, her back to Catra. “Sure, I’ll change too then.”

Catra slid off her work uniform- _Fucking finally-_ and put on the pajamas that Scorpia brought her; some shorts and an old band T-shirt that Catra thought she had lost. “Okay, I’m good, what about you?”

“Yup! Let’s do a reveal!” Glimmer’s voice squeaked in anticipation. _How anyone can be this excited right now is beyond me._

“Ugh, fine if it means I can go brush my teeth and sleep sooner.” Catra rolled her eyes at the wall, tempted to look behind her anyway. “Three, two, one, go.” On go, they both turned around to reveal their pajamas to each other. Glimmer’s pajamas were a shiny mix of pinks and purples with glitter on the top. Catra snickered at it. “Yeah, I’m _definitely_ going to call you Sparkles now.” 

Glimmer scoffed and threw a pillow at Catra who yelped. “Whatever, Catra. I’m going to go brush my teeth now!” She skipped out of the room, and in the distance Catra heard her say a greeting to Bow and Adora, who Catra assumed had just got out of their room. With a sigh, Catra walked out of her room too. She figured the sooner she gets it over with, the sooner she can force herself to sleep. _Do I really want this day to end? It might be the last somewhat normal day of my life._

She shook her head, looking down the hallway at the group who had just reconvened near the bathroom. _Like it or not, this is my group now._ She frowned at her next realization. _Fuck, there’s only one bathroom._


End file.
